Bleach Chapter 664 – Kisuke VS Askin [Bankai]

The air itself around them froze for a moment

After over a decade in waiting, it has finally come. That echoing moment that any Bleach fan had resounding in their minds the instance its existence was made known. With the hush of silence and the embrace of darkness signalling it, the hearts of every Bleach fan stopped the moment that one word was uttered. A word so powerful that it shattered open the flood gates of patience and let loose years of contained excitement. A cornered Urahara Kisuke has finally revealed his most powerful trump card. A power that materializes his zanpakutou’s spirit and unleashes it. Bankai. Urahara Kisuke has finally unleashed Benihime!

Bleach Chapter 662-663 – Kisuke And Yoruichi VS Askin

Yoruichi unleashes her Shunryuu Kokubyou Senkei (Flash God Black Cat Warrior Princess) form

I love it, these past few chapters of Bleach have been absolutely fantastic. The focus has shifted back to Yoruichi VS Askin and on top of that, Kisuke has been introduced into the battle as well. And just as we all expect from Kisuke, he has an answer (of sorts) to the problems that arise with seemingly no answer. Yoruichi has unleashed her Shunryuu Kokubyou Senki forcing Askin to unleash his Vollständig forcing Kisuke into a very interesting position where he may have to unleash his genius and powers (c’mon Benihime).

Bleach Chapter 654-661 – Dance Of Fate

*excitement over-overload*

Uryuu’s motives have finally been confirmed and just as most suspected, he opted to sabotage the Sternritter from within by joining their ranks. The act of betrayal was just a ruse to get the Sternritter not to distrust him. Personally, I had believed Uryuu joined the Sternritter because he figured out a way to defeat Yhwach and was biding his time because he was waiting for the opportune moment, but it turns out Uryuu concluded that Yhwach was unbeatable and instead decided to destroy the Quincy’s way of breaching the real world. Amusingly, it took Ichigo and the air of hope he haphazardly drags along with him to knock some nonsense back into Uryuu and shatter the calculations that led to Uryuu concluding that Yhwach was unbeatable into pieces. This in turn “surprised” the wielder of the “All Mighty” power, Jugram. Been waiting for this match-up for a while, finally we get to see what Uryuu is truly capable of.

Bleach Chapter 635 – The Sternritter Elite Four

With Yhwach asleep, Jugram gains the Almighty power of foresight

Finally we get to see Yhwach’s Elite Force in action targetting the Shinigami. With the four members splitting up and encountering different opponents, it will be interesting to find who the final opponent they will each fight will be. Will Grimmjow be able to take out Askin or will it take a combined effort with Ichigo and Co. to take him down. As for the other Elite Force Sternritter, they are beginning to show just why they were able to take out the Zero Division earlier in the arc. As for Jugram, looks like he has woken up with Yhwach going to sleep. I wonder what “future” Jugram saw…

Bleach Chapter 628 – The Quincy World

The one true world eh? Seems like it could use with some more Bleach

How interesting, so Yhwach has taken dominion of all the Reishi within the Soul King’s realm removing the ability of the Shinigami to freely control it. With Yhwach containing such a powerful grasp over the reishi within the Soul King realm, I am curious to find out how exactly he will be overwhelmed. Will Kisuke and/or Aizen have a hand in weakening Yhwach opening up the opportunity for Ichigo to land a decisive blow against him? And as for the next Soul King, I still wonder who exactly will fill that role (Aizen!).

Bleach Chapter 627 – The Recreated World

Hope to finally see the main characters actually feature in a battle!

Looks like Juhabach really does plan to create a world of his shaping once he has done destroying it. I was curious to see what exactly Juhabach’s end goal was and it turns out it was more than just killing the Soul King. Juhabach didn’t just want to destroy the Gotei 13 for what they had done to Quincy a thousand years ago, but he is seeking to completely consume the very world they have created. Juhabach seeks to attain his revenge by replacing the world of the Shinigami by a world of his creation. The Gotei 13 currently represent the “Gods” of the world, but Juhabach plans on creating a world in which the Quincy represent the “Gods”.

Bleach Chapter 626 – The Reborn King

What an interesting form…

With Juhabach absorbing the Soul King, it seems he has inherited the purpose the Soul King’s existence embodied, which is serving as the being holding the universes in balance. With his newly attained power, Juhabach seeks to remake the world to his vision and desires, a world devoid of the reality the current one operates by. The obvious effect of Juhabach inheriting the Soul King’s power is the consequence that will result when he is defeated, that being the collapse of the balance of the universes once a being tying them all together is removed. It seems likely that with the defeat of Juhabach, a new character will become the Soul King (Ichigo).

Bleach Chapter 625 – Exploiting The Garganta

Time for the counterattack! – colour by DEOHVI

Well that was pleasantly surprising seeing many past characters brought back into the focus, especially the lovely Neliel! Nice to see Kubo-sensei using Riruka and Yukio again to set the foundation for the counterattack on the Sternritter. It did take me a while to understand the dynamics of the Garganta and how Kisuke went about exploiting the pockets of reiatsu, known as the Valley of Screams, within the Garganta to devise a way to travel within there. Using Riruka and Yukio to create a transport vessel, what a brilliant man Kisuke, there really is nothing he doesn’t have an answer for.

Bleach Chapter 624 – The Return Of Grimmjow

A wild Grimmjow appears!

Well colour me excited, it is about damn time the Fang of Hueco Mundo revealed his sexy self! Been waiting for Grimmjow’s return ever since it was hinted at back when Ichigo made it out of Hueco Mundo. I was hoping for Harribel to appear with Grimmjow when he returns as Harribel is an awesome character whose potential wasn’t fully utilised in the Arrancar Arc. It would also be fantastic to get a some Arrancar highlighted in this final arc of Bleach. Hopefully such a card is still on the table and Grimmjow went to rescue Harribel during the time he was out of focus. Very excited to see how Ichigo and Grimmjow interact with each other now that they are working towards a common goal – stopping Juhabach.

Bleach Chapter 619-620 – The All-Mighty King

Things sure look ominous…

Oh Uryuu, how thoughtful of you to act as the villain and create an exit for Ichigo and Co. to survive their encounter with Juhabach, all in order so they can regroup and come up with a place to actually take down Juhabach and his “All-Mighty”/”All-Seeing”/”All-Trolling” power. Uryuu understands the terror Juhabach represents and he has come up with an elaborate ruse to fool the Sternritter and keep Ichigo and Co. alive. Badass.